Not everyone can work with beef, because improperly prepared meat turns out to be very tough and dry. But if you make beef stew according to the recipe, then in this case it becomes incredibly tender and juicy. The main thing is to know some secrets and tricks that should be used during the preparation of this dish.
Classic meat recipe
Beef stew with vegetables is considered one of the most popular dishes in every family. There is a complete set of necessary nutrients, so this kind of food should be consumed not only to satisfy your basic needs, but also to replenish the balance of vitamins in the body.
To prepare this dish, you should take 500 g of beef, 200 g of carrots, the same amount of onions and bell pepper. If the season is, it is also recommended to use a pumpkin, it will give the dish a pleasant sweetish notes. You should also take a small amount of chili pepper and a few sprigs of green onions. To enhance the taste of meat when stewing, add about 200 ml of any red wine.
How to cook
The cooking process itself is not so much complicated as it is long, because beef meat is quite tough, it takes a lot of time to become tender. If you use veal, then in this case, the cooking time can be reduced by three times. Follow the step-by-step instructions to get a really interesting and tasty dish:
- First you need to clean the beef well, it should not have streaks and films. They cannot be softened, therefore, if they are not removed, no matter how long and correctly the meat is cooked, it will still be difficult to chew.
- After cutting the meat into large cubes ~ 3 cm thick.
- Put a frying pan on the fire, pour vegetable oil and wait until it is heated. Throw meat and fry it until golden brown.
- In the meantime, rinse and peel all the vegetables. Cut the carrots into slices, and pepper and pumpkin into medium cubes. The onion should be in the form of a small cube or straw, in this case, the slicing form is unprincipled.
- While the vegetables were being prepared, the meat should already have reached the desired consistency. Pour it with the necessary amount of wine, add a little water. Reduce the heat and put out the stew for at least 1 hour.
- After the allotted time, you should take another pan, pour a little vegetable oil into it and throw the onions and carrots when they are half ready, put the rest of the vegetables and fry them.
- To taste the meat, if it is already half ready, then you can throw vegetables, if not yet, continue to stew.
- 20 minutes before the completion of cooking (you can determine this moment by the softness of the meat), you should throw all the spices and salt. According to this recipe for stewed beef with vegetables, it is recommended to use: bay leaf, paprika, quite a bit of cinnamon, coriander, rosemary, salt and different types of pepper that are available.
- Stew meat for a short time, after which it can be served on a portioned or on one common plate. Sprinkle on top with chopped green onions. On average, cooking takes about 2 hours (it all depends on the meat).
Beef Stew Recipe with Photo
In this case, a little more ingredients will already be involved, smoked bacon and mushrooms will give an unusual taste to the dish. This recipe for beef is more suitable for everyday food, meat is best consumed with buckwheat porridge or boiled potatoes.
Grocery list
One of the main rules of cooking is to never start cooking until you have all the ingredients you need to cook. To cook beef stew with gravy, you should take:
- beef (for example, the neck) - 1 kg;
- a few tablespoons of olive oil, but you can use the usual vegetable;
- smoked bacon - 200 g;
- about 100 g of peeled garlic;
- Tomatoes in their own juice - 1 jar (it is recommended to buy tomatoes already peeled from the skin, otherwise you will have to lose time on this procedure manually);
- shallots - a few pieces;
- one carrot;
- 0.5 kg of mushrooms or any other mushrooms (you can use dried mushrooms, in which case the dish will have a pronounced mushroom aroma);
- red wine - 500 ml;
- several sprigs of fresh rosemary and thyme;
- bay leaves and other favorite spices (they perfectly reveal the taste of stewed beef with gravy).
As you can see, the set of products is quite impressive, but the taste of food from this only gets better.
Cooking process
It is immediately worth noting that cooking this dish is a rather lengthy process. You must follow the step by step instructions so as not to get confused:
- Take a large pan with a thick bottom and fry the bacon in it, which is previously cut into a medium cube. When most of the fat is leaked from it, put shallots in half in a bowl, fry over high heat for a few more minutes.
- After that, put carrots and mushrooms cut in half in a pan, fry for some more time, and then transfer them to any bowl and set aside for a while.
- In the same pan, beef meat should be fried, which was cut into cubes 2 by 2 centimeters. When a brown crust appears, pour 500 ml of red wine into the bowl.
- Stew meat until alcohol evaporates from the wine, then add fresh thyme, rosemary, sliced garlic, bay leaf, salt and pepper varieties. Add tomatoes and 100 ml of water.
- Cover the pan, simmer all the products for 1 hour, then drop the fried vegetables with bacon, cook them for about 30 minutes. Check the readiness of the dish on the softness of meat.
- Now you can cook a side dish, pour it on a plate, and lay the meat with gravy on the side.
According to reviews of beef stew, all the people who cooked this dish note the difficulty of cooking. Not everyone takes up the preparation of such beef, but those who nevertheless decided to leave only positive messages, because the meat is really unsurpassed.
Cooking in a slow cooker
Cooking in a slow cooker is always considered very simple and fast. This case is no exception, so everyone can make really tasty stewed beef in a slow cooker.
Essential Ingredients
To prepare this simple enough dish that your whole family will like, you should prepare the following products:
- 600 g of beef meat (it is best to use a cue ball or neck);
- 2 carrots, bell peppers and a celery stalk;
- a few cloves of garlic (its amount depends only on personal preferences);
- 300 ml of water;
- a few tablespoons of tomato paste;
- favorite spices.
Cooking
Cooking beef stew in a slow cooker is extremely simple. First, you should clean the meat well, and then cut it into medium cubes. Rinse all other vegetables under running water, peel and wash again. Cut onions and carrots into thin half rings, bell pepper - medium cubes, celery and onions - slices.
When all the ingredients have been prepared, you can proceed directly to cooking. Put meat in the multicooker bowl, add a little vegetable oil and turn on the "Frying" mode, set the timer for 10 minutes. Note! When using the multicooker in this mode, the lid of the device must be open.
When 5 minutes have passed, put in the bowl all the vegetables except celery, and continue frying. At the end of this process, add tomato paste, celery, a little sugar, salt and your favorite spices to the main products. Rosemary, paprika, coriander, and fresh thyme go well with beef.
Close the lid, set the "Extinguishing" mode, set the timer for 2 hours. For this entire period of time, you can simply forget about the dish. He does not need to be mixed up or to watch the state of his readiness. When time passes, the multicooker will give a signal that will indicate the end of cooking. After which the dish can be served to the table.
According to reviews, all housewives are simply delighted with this dish, they report that the meat is incredibly juicy and tender.
Large beef stew with cherry
Probably many people know that beef goes well with a product like cherry. Having prepared such a dish, you will certainly surprise all your guests at the festive table. The cooking process itself is very simple and fast. Serve this dish on a large plate, abundantly sprinkle the finished products with finely chopped green onions.
Cooking Products
For cooking, you should take 500 g of beef tenderloin, fresh or frozen cherries, 200 g of wine, cherry juice and a small amount of green onion. There are very few products in this dish, spices are more important than ever. Therefore, you will need to use rosemary, thyme, basil, ground coriander, very little cinnamon. Soy sauce can be added to the liquid in which the meat will be cooked.
Cooking Beef with Cherry
Peel the tenderloin and cut into large enough pieces.
This meat is very tender and juicy, so the cooking process will be very fast. Put a frying pan on the fire and warm it well, add a little vegetable or olive oil, fry the meat. After pouring wine, juice and put the pitted cherries. When the liquid boils, add salt, pepper and all the spices, cover the pan with a lid and simmer for another 30 minutes.
In the meantime, chop green onions. At the end of cooking, add a teaspoon of diluted starch to the pan, mix thoroughly and wait until the sauce begins to thicken. Serve the dish on portioned plates, garnishing with chopped onions or any other herbs. In this case, the usual sprig of fresh rosemary can serve as fragrant decoration.
According to the reviews of the people who prepared this dish, we can conclude that not everyone prepares it from the most expensive part of the carcass. Often, the back is used, which practically does not impair the taste of the dish. However, the meat should be stewed much longer in a pan with the lid closed.
All of the above recipes are time-tested, they are loved by more than one thousand people and you will definitely like them. Remember that the cooking time of any dish in this case is indicated for beef, if you use young meat, then the cooking time is reduced several times.